Once Upon a Bookshelf

Ah, the holiday has been positively wonderful, and vacation is always fun. I’ve been busy busy busy for the last week, as to be expected with Christmas and visiting family and friends while I’m actually in town. Christmas was good. Quiet. Didn’t quite feel like Christmas part of the time, but it was good to see everyone, and there was so much good food. Too much good food. I’m not going to want to eat any more rich or sweet foods for another month, which is all good by me.

Saw Mamma Mia! last weekend, and Sweeney Todd this week. This was my first chance to see Mamma Mia! and I positively loved it. Loved the music. (Of course - it’s ABBA after all.) It was the touring cast, and they were all fabulous. Am very much looking forward to seeing the movie in theatres when it comes out. (Did you know - the guy playing Sky in the movie is the guy who was Dakin in The History Boys? Exciting exciting!)

As for Sweeney Todd… I loved it while I was watching it. The gory bits didn’t bother me; I knew the basic story going in, I knew there was going to be plenty of blood, and I knew that it was darker than Tim Burton’s other stuff. But it left a bit of a foul taste in my mouth in the days following. I’ll probably buy the soundtrack at some point in time, but I very much doubt I’ll be able to watch the movie again.

And now, because all the cool kids are doing it, and what am I if not a jumper-on-the-bandwagon-person-thing… a slight breakdown (mostly book-related) of the past year.

Total Books Read: 70
Books by Female Authors: 45
Books by Male Authors: 29
Books by Canadian Authors: 10

Non-fiction: 7
Fantasy/Mythology/Etc: 34
YA/Childrens: 33
Books Somehow Relating to Jane Austen: 6
Books Where A Good Portion Takes Place On A Boat: 7

Top Five Favourite Books of 2007: Austenland, Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy, The Ladies of Grace Adieu, The Chess Machine, The Obsidian Dagger: Being the Further Extraordinary Adventures of Horatio Lyle

Plays Seen: Mamma Mia!, To Kill a Mockingbird, Twelfth Night, King Lear, Oklahoma! and The Drowsy Chaperone

Concerts Attended: Loreena McKennitt (sadly lacking in the number of concerts this year!)

Looking over that, I have to say that I want to read more non-fiction type books in the new year, as well as more books by Canadian authors. I’d also like to see more concerts this coming year as the number for this year is very small compared to previous years. Other upcoming events for 2008 include Michael Bublé concert (January), RENT (March), Caesar & Cleopatra (September), a possible (and probably unlikely) trip to PEI (September).

And that’s it. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that you have a fabulous New Year!

Yes, that’s right. Smell. It smells of pine trees and chocolate and cranberries and cinnamon in my apartment! There was a crazy snow storm today, so I spent most of my day in the kitchen doing my Christmas baking. And let me tell you, I have so much chocolate (and icing sugar, and peanut butter, and cinnamon, and cherries, and did I mention chocolate?!) in my system right now that there’s no way I’m going to get to sleep at a decent time.

I’ve been busy busy busy lately, too busy to pick up a book for more than 15 minutes at a time, which is annoying as I want to get 3 more books done by the end of the month to bring my total for the year up to 70 books read - ah, how I love those nice, round numbers! And it looks like things are not going to slow down for a while. It’s a busy week this week with a work Christmas party, work potluck, and getting my apartment cleaned. Plus, I’m heading off to my parents place on Friday or Saturday this week, and will remain there until January 1st. Things are looking to be busy there too! Christmas stuff, friends stuff (Sabrina, Megan! When can I see you??), family stuff, going to see Mamma Mia, seeing five bazillion movies at the theatre… the list is endless! Endless, I say!

Then, after Christmas, I’m taking a distance course - Marketing I - for 4 months, and then a second distance course as soon as that one finishes. Plus, there’s another web project or three that are in the works or ongoing. So I’m going to be learning lots, and working some, and doing little else, I fear. Maybe I need to learn to manage my time better.

Anyway, am off, have more css-ing to do, and just needed a diversion for a little bit in hopes that the chocolate energy would go away. Sadly, it has not. (And this is why you should not mix Courtney, Christmas specials on TV, chocolate and Christmas music.) (Also - I totally watched the He-man and She-ra Christmas special this weekend and it was totally awesome. Dude, it’s She-ra!)

You have got to be joking. Only 52.6% of eligible voters actually voted in the Ontario provincial election?! It disgusts me. It’s like you’re insulting the fact that we live in a democratic society, and I will positively refuse to listen to you when you start complaining about the state of our government because you could’ve done something about it but didn’t bother. It’s not even like it was difficult to vote - there was advanced voting, there were more voting stations this year, and you could have voted anytime in a 12-hour period. Not to mention the fact that legally your employer has to give you time to vote if, by chance, you are working that full 12-hour period on voting day. Makes me sick.

</rant>

I have a new baby! Her name is Nymphadora, and you can see a bigger picture by clicking on the thumbnail. Sadly, she doesn’t change colours or anything fun like the character she is named after, but I love her dearly.

I picked her up from the dealer on Saturday; she drives wonderfully. So much smoother than my previous car. The old one used to make all sorts of noises in the cold weather - squeaks, squeals, tickings - all of which the mechanics could never discover what was making the noises. And she didn’t accelerate very well, which was never fun for highway driving. Plus, when I had the radio on, and put my foot on the brake, all I got was static. Very odd. She was old, though. Ten years. I will miss her dearly, but oh, how I love my Nymphadora.

I . . . put a downpayment on a car today. It’s one of the scariest things I’ve ever done, I think.

She’s a 2007 Honda Civic. I get her next Saturday. Have a list of names, not sure which one suits her best. Will post pictures when I have her.

But oh, she is PRETTY. I loved her from the moment I sat in the front seat.

I think this means that I’m going to have to limit my visits to Chapters, however….